Fencepost



F. J. DURKEE.

FENCEPOST.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I0, 19|?.

1 ,333,842 Pat'ehted Miu'. 16, 1920.

\\\\ INVENTOR v\ M2M ATTORNEY FREDERIC Jv. nUEKEE, 0E SAGINAW, MICHIGAN.

FENCEPOST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

Application filed March 10, 1917. Serial No. 153,947.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, FREDERIC J. DURKEE, a citizen of the United States,y residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fenceposts; and I do hereby declare the follow ing to be a. full, clear, and eXact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is a fence post and relates more particularly to fence posts of a type adapted to be easily and quickly driven int-o r the ground and easily removed for the purposes for which temporary posts are commonly employed.

The object of my invention is to provide a post of simple and inexpensive construction that will be portable, yet strong and durable.

My improvement embodies means for easily and quickly attaching fence wires to the posts and for simultaneously clamping all of the wires to the posts, yet enabling the wires to be easily detached from the post when desired.

As an integral part of the post construction I provide a clampingbar that not only secures all of the wires in place on the post, but also forms a face of the post itself.

A further object of my invention is to provide a metallic post having a relatively short driving point, with lateral bracing means where y the post is firmly anchored in position, although only a small part of the length of the post is embedded in the earth, as distinguished from posts in common use in which a large part of the post must. of necessity be embedded in the earth in order to afford bearing'against the earth to hold the post inv position.

"Vith the foregoing' and certain other objects in view, which will appear later in this specification.y my invention comprises the devices described and claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view, broken away in part, showing a section of wire fence supported by posts of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is a detail, broken away in part, showing the lower end of a post and the driving point.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bearing plate.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 4-1 of Fig. l, showing the mode of clamping the wires to the post- Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the driving point, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a part sectional detail ofthe connection by which the tie` brace'is removably secured to thejsurfa'cev plate.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the device consists of an upright body 1, carrying at its lower end flatted member or driving point 2, which together with the body is formed of a single sheet of metal. 3 is a surface plate comprising a flat sheet of metal which may, if desired, be suitably stiffened in any suitable manner, as by means of Alongitudinall corrugations 4, as shown in Fig. 3.

5, 5 are tie braces bolted at their upper ends to the body of the post at a point about midway the length of the post, and removably secured at their lower ends to the outer part of the surface plates 3.

The post body, as is clearly shown in the drawings, is preferably of"channelshaped cross section, the channel' comprising a web 6 and two laterally projecting longitudinal flanges 7, 7, the outer edges of the two lianges being formed at suitable intervals with notches 8 adapted t-o receive fence wires 9. Then all the wires are properly in place on a post they are immovably secured in the notches, against both lateral movement and longitudinal movement with respect'to the post, by means of a removable face plate l0, which is secured by bolts ll, or otherwise to the body of the post. This lface plate is preferably of half-oval or equivalent cross: section and is applied with its curved or projecting face against the wires, so that when the face plate forced into position by means of the bolt-s, the middle part of its inner face will bear against the wires, forcing them inward, as

indicated in Fig. l and thereby clamping' them against both longitudinal and transt3 verse movement with respect to the post.

To impart proper lateral rigidity to the post when set in thel ground, and employing only a relatively short point 2, and to enable the point to berelieved of transverse stresses that tend to loosen the post, I provide the surface plate 3 above referred to. This surface plate is formed with a central opening comprising a longitudinal slit 12 having two lateral extensions 13, 13, as shown in Fig. 3,. The length and width of the longitudinal slit are sut'cient to receive the driving point, which in assembling the fence, is passed through the slit until the flanges of the upper post body reach the surface plate. The post is then turned in the opening one-fourth of a turn, this movement being permittedby shallow notches 14, 14 located at the two sides of the upper end of the driving point. These notches interlock with the plate when the post is turned as above described, the upper shoulders 15 of the driving point engaging the under side of the plate, and the lower ends of the lianges 7 on the post body engaging the upper surface of the plate, so that the plate is firmly interlocked with the post and movement of the post with respect to the plate, either up or down, is prevented, This result is accomplished without the aid oi"- bolts, screws7 rivets or clamps.

The outer end ol each surface plate 3 is formed with an opening 16, adapted to receive the lower end of the tie brace 5, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The lower end 17 of the tie brace is preferably bent to substantially the form shown in Fig. 6. The end of the brace is inserted in the opening and the brace is turned until its hooked end is engaged and automatically locked in the surface plate. The upper end of the brace is formed with an opening to receive one of the several bolts 11, which pass through the post and face plate.

The driving point 2 may be flat, although for additional stillness it may be corrugated, as shown at 19, in Figs. 2 and 5. The point 2 is adapted to easily enter the ground, and to cut through sod, green roots and like obstructions.

By the means above described, I have proi duced a post, the body of which can be i Ci easily and cheaply made of a single piece of sheet metal, which will iirmly hold all of he wires of the fence against both vertical and longitudinal movement with respect to the post and which is capable of simultaneously clamping all of the wires by the simple operation of tightening three bolts.

lt will be noted that no individual ties or fastenings are required for the separate wires, but that all of the wires are clamped by the face plate 10.

A fence can be rapidly and economically erected by means of these posts, because it is only necessary to slip the bearing plates over the driving points, turn them7 place the tie braces in position and drive the post, in

order to secure a strong and rigid support, for the fence. The surface plate and the tie vbraces form a rigid .extended lateral bearlateral shifting of the post, and in conjunction with the bearing plate not only prevents lateral shifting, but also effectively prevents overturning.

A further advantage of the construction herein described is that the shape of the post enables large numbers of them to be nested in compact space for shipment. The post, being light and compact, is readily portable and can be moved from place to place as required, with a minimum amount of labor.

While l have illustrated and described my improved post as applied to a straight line fence, it will be understood that it is also adapted to be used as a corner post, or as an end post. When used as an end post, the lower part of the driving point 2, illustrated in Fig. 2, may be dispensed with, and rm anchorage may be secured by embedding the plate 3, in the ground if desired.

Various modiiications in the shape or proportions of the post body may also be made to suit particular conditions of service, as for instance, use as a corner post, without departing from the fair spirit of my invention. Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure Vby Letters Patent is:

In a post of the class described, a flanged upper body formed of a single piece of sheet metal of channel-shaped .cross section, the lower part of said body comprising a wide at driving point integral with the web of said body and formed as by bending said flanges outwardly, the upper end of said driving point formed with shoulders and notches, and a base-plate formed with an opening to receive said atted driving point and adapted to interlock in said notches.

In testimony whereof, I ailixmy signature in presence o'two witnesses.

FREDERIC J. DURKEE.

Witnesses NELLIE M. ANGUS, Roy WALLIS. 

